1292
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 60

WILLIAM HENRY DACOMBE, Esq., of Christchurch;
ABRAHAM MANOY, Esq., of Motueka;
ALFRED ROBERT HALE SWINDLEY, Esq., of Coromandel;
FREDERICK SWINDLEY, Esq., of Coromandel; and
HORATIO WALMSLEY, Esq., of Waihi.

T. THOMPSON.

Regulations for Adjustment of Compasses.

Marine Department,
Wellington, 5th July, 1897.

IN pursuance and exercise of the power and authority conferred upon me by section 4 of “The Shipping and Seamen’s Act Amendment Act, 1895,” I, William Hall-Jones, the Minister having charge of the Marine Department, do hereby make the following regulations for licensing properly-qualified persons to be adjusters of compasses, prescribing the examination to be passed by applicants for such licenses, fixing the fees to be paid for the adjustment of compasses; and do hereby also make the following regulations for the adjustment of compasses and the transmission of deviations tables; and I do hereby revoke the regulations for the adjustment of compasses which were made by warrants dated the 13th February, 1896, and the 15th December, 1896, and published in the New Zealand Gazette of the 20th February, 1896, and the 17th December, 1896.

WM. HALL-JONES.

REGULATIONS.

1. Licenses without Examination.—Subject in each instance to satisfactory evidence of good character, and to the payment of a fee of £1, any person shall be entitled to receive a license as an adjuster, without examination, who—
   (1.) Holds a license as an adjuster from the Board of Trade or any other Board or authority recognised by the Minister as satisfactory; or
   (2.) Holds a certificate as extra master in the mercantile marine, or a commission not lower than lieutenant or navigating-lieutenant in the Royal navy; or
   (3.) Gives satisfactory evidence that, being the holder of a certificate as master (other than extra master) or as mate in the mercantile marine, or of a commission lower than lieutenant or navigating-lieutenant in the Royal navy, he has passed the examination prescribed by the Board of Trade, or any other Board or authority as aforesaid, in the syllabus of the laws of the deviation of the compass in iron ships, and in the means of compensating or correcting it.

2. Licenses by Examination.—Any person who holds a certificate as master (other than extra master) or as mate in the mercantile marine, or who holds a commission lower than lieutenant or navigating-lieutenant in the Royal navy, shall be entitled to receive a license as an adjuster upon passing the hereinafter-mentioned examination in the syllabus of the laws of the deviation of the compasses of iron ships.

3. Examination, Fee, &c.—Any such person as last aforesaid who wishes to pass an examination in the syllabus of examination in the laws of the deviation of the compasses of iron ships, and in the means of compensating or correcting it, can be examined upon filling up the usual form of application and paying to the Superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office the fee of £1. The examination shall be conducted by the Examiners of Masters and Mates, and shall be held at such time as they appoint. If the candidate passes the examination successfully a note to that effect will be duly made upon the certificate held by him.

No part of the above-mentioned fee will be returned.

4. License, Fee, &c.—Every application for a license as an adjuster shall be made in writing to the Secretary of the Marine Department.

Every applicant must submit, with his application, his certificate, and satisfactory evidence of good conduct and sobriety during the twelve months immediately preceding the date of his application.

5. A fee of £1 will be charged for a license, and must be paid before the license is issued.

6. The license will be issued by the Secretary of the Marine Department at Wellington in the form numbered 1 in the Schedule hereto, and it shall not be lawful for any person to act as an adjuster unless he holds such license.

7. The holder of a license as an adjuster shall have authority to examine, adjust, and compute the error of compasses, and transmit tables of such errors to the masters, owners, or agents of vessels of which the compasses have been examined and adjusted as herein required, and such licenses may at any time be suspended or cancelled by the Minister.

8. The amount of adjustment fee shall be based according to the net registered tonnage, and as prescribed in the table of fees numbered 2 in the Schedule hereto.

9. The adjusters shall be paid such fees or remuneration by the master, owner, or agent as may be from time to time approved of by the Minister.

10. The error of the standard compass must not exceed one point on any given compass-point.

Intercolonial and Home-trade Ships.

11. Periodical Adjustment.—The compasses of every intercolonial vessel and home-trade vessel, either steam-vessel or sailing-vessel, built wholly or partly of steel or iron, shall, at least once in every twelve months, be properly examined, repaired (if necessary), and adjusted, and their errors ascertained by a licensed adjuster: Provided that should the compasses of any such vessel have been previously examined and adjusted at any port or place, not being within the limits of the Colony of New Zealand, by any person (being duly authorised for that purpose by a competent authority recognised as such by the Minister) within the said period of twelve months, the certificate of such person may be accepted by the Engineer Surveyor as sufficient evidence of the correctness of such compasses; and satisfactory evidence of such examination and adjustment, and of the good condition of such compasses, shall be produced by the master of any vessel on demand being made by the Engineer Surveyor.

12. Exemptions.—The foregoing regulations shall not apply to vessels plying within restricted limits which the Minister may by warrant under his hand exempt.

13. Certificate by Officers.—At the periodical survey of any vessel the compasses of which have been examined and adjusted as herein provided within the six months immediately preceding the date of such survey, a certificate, in the form numbered 3 in the Schedule hereto, shall be forwarded to the Engineer Surveyor, signed by the master and mate, one of whom at least must have made the previous, and is going to make the next, voyage in the vessel. If, however, such certificate cannot be so signed, then the compasses of such vessel shall be readjusted, the errors ascertained, and evidence thereof, as required by the 15th regulation hereof, shall be transmitted to the Marine Department, Wellington.

14. Place and Mode of Adjustment.—Where the compasses of any vessel to which these regulations apply are to be adjusted, such vessel shall be taken to the swinging-buoys laid down for such purpose in any port, or, at the option of the master or other person in charge thereof, such ship may be swung for the adjustment of compasses in any harbour by means of distant objects or by azimuth or amplitude of the sun.

15. Adjustment Tables, &c.—The adjuster shall, as soon as possible after completion of the examination and adjustment by him of the compasses of any vessel, deliver to the master, owner, or agent of such vessel a table in the form numbered 4 in the Schedule hereto, and also a Napier’s diagram showing the deviation of the standard compass of such vessel. There shall be attached to the aforesaid table a declaration by the adjuster that the compasses are in good order and condition. Duplicates of such deviation forms and diagrams are to be handed to the Engineer Surveyor by the adjuster at that port. The Engineer Surveyor, after having inspected the above-mentioned form and diagram, shall forward them to the Marine Department, Wellington.

16. Compasses not satisfactorily adjusted.—Where in any case the Marine Department consider that the deviation of the compasses of any vessel has not been satisfactorily ascertained, the department may order such vessel to be again swung, and the compasses thereof readjusted, and the errors ascertained.

17. Repairs, &c.—Where at any time any vessel has undergone at any port in New Zealand alterations or repairs, necessitating the removal or addition of any plates, beams, &c., from or to the hull, boilers, funnels, masts, &c., or if the Engineer Surveyor has reason to believe that the compasses of any ship are unreliable, then, notwithstanding any regulation herein to the contrary, the compasses thereof must be adjusted and the errors ascertained prior to such ship proceeding to sea. Except in the case where there are no adjusters available: then the Engineer Surveyor shall advise the Secretary, Marine Department, who, if he thinks it expedient so to do, may grant permission to such vessel to proceed to any port in New Zealand where the services of an adjuster can be obtained.

18. Southern Hemisphere.—Where the compasses of any intercolonial or home-trade vessel are unadjusted for the Southern Hemisphere, such compasses shall be adjusted and the errors ascertained in the manner herein required as soon after the arrival of such vessel as practicable.

19. Standard Compass.—Every intercolonial and home-trade vessel, wholly or partly constructed of iron or steel, shall be provided with a standard compass, placed in a suitable position; and the said compass shall be furnished with appliances for taking accurate observations and bearings.

20. Compass Error Register-book.—The equipment of every intercolonial and home-trade ship surveyed at any port